Peter Dalrymple's trial on child sex abuse allegations begins

The defense
and prosecution agree that the trial of Peter Dalrymple involves more than a
decade's worth of stories. Their views diverge, however, in terms of genre:
Warren County prosecutors present the indictment against Dalrymple as fact; his
attorney, as a work of fiction.

"It's a long story that you're going to hear in a relatively
short time," Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Brotzman said during opening
statements. "But it's her story. She's ready to tell it."

Opening arguments began this afternoon in New Jersey Superior Court in the case of the 51-year-old Pohatcong Township man, who is accused of molesting
a young girl from 1997 to 2002, until she was 11. Arguments centered around the
credibility of Dalrymple's accuser and the investigation that led up to his indictment in 2008.

Brotzman told jurors that the victim's seemingly normal childhood belied
a horrible secret that took years to uncover. Some of the details aren't concrete because she was six or seven years old when the alleged abuse began, but what she remembers specifically are the nights she alleges
Dalrymple sexually abused her, Brotzman said.

She'd watch the hands of a clock, adorned with a cartoon of
"101 Dalmatians," knowing that at 1 a.m., Dalrymple would enter the room and
the abuse would begin, Brotzman said.

The clock, while evoking imagery of a child's room as the
backdrop for alleged sexual abuse, served as a launching pad for defense attorney Michael Ascher to point out flaws in the investigation. He faulted the prosecutor's
office and other authorities in their investigation, citing that they didn't confirm the victim's accounts of the room
with the Dalrymples.

He also stressed that there will be no witnesses or
medical evidence presented in the case.

"There
really was not an investigation in this case. There was a rush of judgement,"
Ascher said. "The true victim,
besides my client, is the truth."

Detective Derek Kries, the first and only witness called
today by the prosecution, confirmed that the Dalrymples hadn't been questioned about
the room, but also said that the timing of the victim's statement prevented
investigators from seeing the room as it had been at the time of the alleged
abuse.

The
trial will continue Wednesday with Kries' testimony and then won't resume until Monday,
due to criminal court proceedings scheduled for the rest of the week. The trial
is expected to last until the end of next week.